ADHD in the News 2020-05-14

A senior is struggling with forgetfulness. Is it Alzheimer’s—or ADHD?

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is most commonly diagnosed in children, but as awareness around the condition has grown, doctors are seeing a new population of ADHD patients: seniors, Sumathi Reddy reports for the Wall Street Journal.

Researchers intended to determine if there is an association between prenatal tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccination and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) risk in offspring. Retrospective cohort study of mother-child pairs born at Kaiser Permanente Southern California from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2014.

What Are Teachers’ Role in Recognizing ADHD?

A new meta-analysis from researchers in the Netherlands tries to shed light on that question by combining the results of previous studies looking at how teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms compare to other measures of ADHD symptoms. It turned out there was a substantial correlation between teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms and ratings from clinical interviews although that correlation was far from perfect. In other words, teachers’ impressions of possible ADHD symptoms do capture something, but they certainly aren’t the final word.

Will Months of Remote Learning Worsen Students’ Attention Problems?

For both teachers and students alike, paying attention might be especially challenging during the coronavirus crisis, and especially so for students like Robert, who struggle to focus in school. Nearly 4 of 5 teachers think their students’ ability to focus has gotten worse with school-related tasks during the shutdown, according to an April EdWeek Research Center survey.

Move to online classes poses challenges for students with disabilities

Every Monday through Friday Matthew Sullivan, manager of the Access Office at STLCC-Meramec, wakes up at the same time he would to go to work, gets dressed, goes into his workspace and tries to work until a lunch break he has scheduled for himself...For students that have ADHD, like himself, he says that one of the main challenges can be structure...The Access office has offered accommodations in the form of coaching, technology (both hard and software), and communication with faculty.

Study: Rate of Mental Health ER Visits Surges for Kids and Teens

Researchers from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and the federal Health Resources and Services Administration measured mental health-related ER visits among children 5 to 17 years old between 2007 and 2016. They found that while the number of pediatric visits for any cause remained relatively level over the decade, visit rates per 1,000 population surged 329% for deliberate self-harm and 117% and 111% for anxiety and impulse-control disorders, respectively.

5 COVID-19 Survival Tips for Teens and Young Adults with ADHD

Is the continuing COVID-19 shelter-in-place getting you down? Do you feel like you are losing your independent identity and morphing back into a younger self? You are not alone. Many older teens and young adults with ADHD feel increasingly frustrated, lost, worried, or depressed.

The ADHD paper that triggered a backlash, and what it taught me

Anita Thapar’s research team faced a barrage of calls and e-mails, some of them hostile, following the publication of their paper on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Here’s what she learnt...The paper was a genome-wide analysis that showed a higher burden of rare chromosomal deletions or duplications in people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than in those unaffected by the condition (N. M. Williams et al. Lancet 376, 1401–1408; 2010).

Curtin research highlights concerns about the link between ADHD drug prescriptions and amphetamine use in WA

The research published in Drug and Alcohol Review, reported that, in 2017, 3% of WA secondary school students self-reported using dexamphetamine for non-medical purposes, but only 1.2% were prescribed the drug. In addition, it found non-medical use of prescription amphetamine among WA secondary school students was the major component of their self-reported illicit amphetamine use.